[2] Following a campaign where Waco residents raised $40,000 to build the facility,[3] plans were drawn up in 1894 for the Texas Cotton Palace in Padgitt Park.

[1][2] Construction was swift, and on November 8, 1894, the first Cotton Palace exhibition was opened by Texas governor James Hogg, which began a month of festivities.

The City of Waco sold the material for $10,265 to Morrow Wrecking, who on Monday, February 8, 1943, razed the buildings, dug out the foundations, graded the ground and hauled the scrap away.

The structure was destroyed in the devastating tornado that struck downtown Waco on May 11, 1953, killing two lifeguards that were sheltering in the underground locker rooms.

The cornerstone of the original Cotton Palace building is mounted at Lover's Leap in Waco's Cameron Park.